TEMECULA: Long history of violations by animal owner

Authorities say they couldn't enter property without cause

No pet food was found save for a small bowl of cat food in a
bathroom in the mobile home.

Shortly after arriving, officers said, they watched in horror as
a pack of dogs killed one of their own, ripping it apart.

Jimenez, 66, was arrested that day by Temecula police on
suspicion of animal cruelty. He posted bond on $5,000 bail Saturday
and was released from jail the same day.

Jimenez is scheduled to be arraigned in late February, however
the Riverside County district attorney's office has yet to formally
charge him.

News of the grisly scene shocked some neighbors and enraged
others. Several, including two who lived next to Jimenez at his
previous residence in Aguanga, said they were saddened but not
altogether surprised about what was found.

Between them, records show, the present and former neighbors had
made dozens of complaints to animal control authorities over a
decade.

"I called repeatedly," said Janet Allen, who can see Jimenez's
residence from her backyard on Diego Drive. "I called and told them
this is not normal barking. It sounds like they're killing each
other. It sounds like there's 20 dogs over there."

Activity logs from the Animal Friends of the Valleys, the
nonprofit that runs Temecula's animal shelter and serves as the
city's animal enforcement, show that Allen called twice in 2007 and
another neighbor called three times the same year.

All five times, animal control officers responded to the
property. Each time, they found the gate locked and couldn't hear
any barking. So, their logs show, they left notices for Jimenez to
call them and then left.

Christine Todd was Jimenez's neighbor for about a decade in
Aguanga, before Jimenez moved in 2006. Their homes were next door
on White Mountain Road.

During that time, Todd estimates, she had at least 40
conversations with Riverside County Animal Services staff members
about Jimenez's animals, including several talks with the
department's supervisor, Lt. John Stephens.

Only fines, Todd said, were ever handed out to Jimenez.

"Nobody seemed to be interested in preventing him from breeding
animals or doing the full seizure that needed to be done," said
Todd, who runs an animal grooming business in Temecula.

Neighbors on White Mountain Road and animal control staff found
upwards of 40 dogs on the property when Jimenez left. Several were
dead.

"We said when he left, the same thing's going to happen again,"
added Joe Pulido, also a White Mountain Road neighbor.

Pulido, like several neighbors reached for comment, said he felt
animal control officers had their hands tied when it came to
preventing the conditions Jimenez created.

He said he inspected Jimenez's property several times. And while
he often found more dogs than allowed -- residents in Temecula and
unincorporated Riverside County are limited to four dogs, unless
they have a kennel permit -- the animals never appeared abused or
malnourished, Stephens said.

"We really had no authority to take 'em," the lieutenant said,
adding that Jimenez was always cooperative and paid his fines.
"There was never anything in that bad a shape up there. Believe me,
we would have loved to have moved on the guy to get rid of the
complaints."